Spawning behaviour of Engystomops pustulatus (Anura: Leptodactylidae)

Foam nests have evolved independently in several amphibian groups as an adaptive response to prevent predation and desiccation in dry environments. Nests are normally laid on ponds, or in underground galleries, humid forest leaf litter or terrestrial bromeliads. They are built when males or females beat a foam precursor associated with the egg masses extruded by the female. The spawning process requires the synchronic actions of the mating pair to obtain a hemispheric nest that protects the offspring. Herein, we describe the spawning behaviour of Engystomops pustulatus based on videos from 13 nesting couples from the lowlands of western Ecuador. Three variables were measured as indicators of male effort: duration of mixing events, duration of resting periods, and number of kicks per mixing event. We consider that not only male physical effort but also female behaviour influences nest structure. We suggest that nest building requires prolonged and intense physical activity by the male as well as the female’s steady position during spawning and female’s oviposition site selection. Nest building has two phases. In the first phase, the duration of resting periods, the duration of mixing events, and the number of kicks increase and are highly variable. During the second phase the three variables stabilise until the end. The volume of the nest increased mainly during the second phase. In four nesting events we observed kicking movements by the female. To our knowledge, this is the first time that female kicking has been observed in leptodactylid frogs. The function of this behaviour is unknown but our observations suggest that it may be triggered by insufficient male effort. Traditionally, female mate choice in Engystomops has been explained under models of indirect benefits exclusively. We argue that the prolonged male activity during nesting could influence female fitness directly. This will allow the operation of sexual selection via direct benefits.     

Effect of updating training on fluid intelligence in children

Recent studies have indicated that working memory (WM) training can improve fluid intelligence.However,these earlier studies confused the impact of WM storage and central executive function on the effects of training.The current study used the running memory task to train the updating ability of 9-11 year-old children using a double-blind controlled design.The results revealed that children’s fluid intelligence was significantly improved by memory-updating training.Overall,our findings suggest that the increase in fluid intelligence achieved with WM training is related to improving central executive function.     

Flame spread over the surface of thermal insulation materials in different environments

Experiments were conducted in a plateau area in Lhasa and a plain area in Hefei China to investigate the flame spread characteristics on thermal insulation materials under different environmental conditions (pressure and oxygen concentration).Molded polystyrene foam (EPS) and extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) samples were placed horizontally on a small-scale flame spread experimental bench.Changes in the average length of the pool fire,flame spread speed,average flame height,and length of preheating zone were used to determine the effect of the plateau and plain environments on flame spread characteristics.These parameters were all larger in Hefei than in Lhasa,which indicates the fire hazard in Hefei will be higher than that in Lhasa if insulation materials of the same size are used.     

不同钻具在松软煤层打钻成孔研究

在介绍赵庄矿井煤层赋存概况的基础上,简述了软煤层施工瓦斯抽放钻孔现状,通过对赵庄矿不同钻具打钻方案的比较,指出50mm×1 000mm的浅槽螺旋钻杆具有较好的打钻效果.     

船用柴油机阻燃式防爆阀的压力降分析

提出一种阻燃式防爆阀的压力降分析方法.通过分析阻燃式防爆阀的结构和工作原理，建立了数值分析模型.借助计算流体力学技术，分析了不同的入口温度和入口压力对阀内压力分布的影响.结果显示，入口温度对阀内压力分布的影响不大，入口压力对阀内的压力分布有影响.拟合不同入口压力时基本单元截面的压力值，得到各截面的压力与入口压力、基本单元数的函数关系.该函数关系能够有效地反映阀内的压力降趋势，计算出各基本单元截面的压力值，从而可以指导具体的阻燃式防爆阀的设计.     

考虑气流影响的直通穿孔管消声器声学性能

为了研究气流对消声器传递损失的影响,采用有限元法(finite element method,FEM)和计算流体力学法(computational fluid dynamics,CFD)相结合的方法来解决这种流声耦合问题.以直通穿孔管消声器为例,计算出它们存在气流时的传递损失,并与文献中的实验数据和预测结果进行对比,以验证计算结果的准确性.研究结果表明:当忽略消声器内部气流引起的湍流噪声时,随着气流速度的增加,除了共振峰值处的传递损失显著减小外,多数频率处的传递损失有所增加,尤其是在较高频段内变化较为明显;随着气流温度的增加,传递损失曲线向高频方向移动.     

杠板归的超临界萃取和红外光谱研究

杠板归是近年来新开发的中药,对于带状疱疹和大面积烧伤有明显疗效。实验研究了用CO2超临界萃取杠板归过程中萃取温度、压力、时间、夹带剂类型及夹带剂剂量5种因素对萃取率的影响,确定了最佳萃取条件,并对部分条件的萃取物进行红外光谱分析。本试验确定的最佳条件为:萃取釜的压力为45 MPa,萃取釜的温度为50℃,萃取时间为180 min,萃取剂为乙酸乙酯,萃取剂剂量40%。本工作开发了一种杠板归的新型分离方法,并为其科学研究积累了重要的数据。     

波纹管对高黏度介质的强化传热研究

通过数值模拟和实验研究考察了一种黏度较高的油类介质在波纹管内的流动和传热特性。研究发现,在本文条件下,波纹管内流动从层流发展到湍流的临界雷诺数远小于传统光滑圆管内的临界雷诺数,约在800～1000左右;波纹管在低雷诺数条件下对较高黏度的介质具有更好的强化传热效果,最大传热强化比达到6倍左右;本文拟合出的波纹管内高黏度介质强制对流时的传热准则关联式,考虑了波纹管管型及不同温度下介质物性参数的影响,经验证具有较好的精度,这为波纹管换热器的进一步工程设计和应用提供了一定的理论依据。     

柴油机气缸盖传热规律研究

利用Star CCM+软件,采用多面体网格技术和基于流体体积函数方法(VOF)的两相流沸腾模型,对单缸柴油机气缸盖的冷却传热进行了流-固耦合仿真计算,通过气缸盖的测试温度对仿真结果进行了校验.在此基础上,对气缸盖的传热规律进行了研究.研究表明,单缸柴油机负荷增加时,气缸盖冷却水壁面排气门鼻梁区的传热系数HTC呈现出在较小负荷增加迅速,在较大负荷增加变缓的规律;气缸盖向冷却水传递的热流量则随单缸柴油机负荷的提高呈现出加速上升的趋势,转速为2 000r.min-1时,单缸柴油机功率由44kW增加到61kW,气缸盖传递给冷却水的热流量增幅为31.4%;功率由61kW增加到80kW,气缸盖传递给冷却水的热流量增幅为61.3%.     

Parametric effects on the combustion flow field of a typical strut-based scramjet combustor

The flame-holding mechanism in hypersonic propulsion technology is the most important factor in prolonging the duration time of hypersonic vehicles.The two-dimensional coupled implicit Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations,the shear-stress transport k-ω turbulence model and the finite-rate/eddy-dissipation reaction models were used to simulate the combustion flow field of a typical strut-based scramjet combustor.We investigated the effects of the hydrogen-air reaction mechanism and fuel injection temperature and pressure on the parametric distributions in the combustor.The numerical results show qualitative agreement with the experimental data.The hydrogen-air reaction mechanism makes only a slight difference in parametric distributions along the walls of the combustor,and the expansion waves and shock waves exist in the combustor simultaneously.Furthermore,the expansion wave is formed ahead of the shock wave.A transition occurs from the shock wave to the normal shock wave when the injection pressure or temperature increases,and the reaction zone becomes broader.When the injection pressure and temperature both increase,the waves are pushed out of the combustor with subsonic flows.When the waves are generated ahead of the strut,the separation zone is formed in double near the walls of the combustor because of the interaction of the shock wave and the boundary layer.The separation zone becomes smaller and disappears with the disappearance of the shock wave.Because of the horizontal fuel injection,the vorticity is generated near the base face of the strut,and this region is the main origin for turbulent combustion.